BeIN Sport Launches with Atlantic Broadband

BeIN Sport continues to build its distribution roster, having rolled out on Atlantic Broadband systems.

The soccer-centric service has launched on Atlantic Broadband’s Digital Plus (channel 157) and Digital Plus HD (channel 957) packages, while beIN Sport en Espanol is on its Mundo Latino Service (channel 234) in Miami, South Miami and northern Dade County systems, which serve some 90,000 customers in the Sunshine State. The sports network has also been available to Atlantic Broadband subscribers in central Pennsylvania and its Maryland/Delaware operating region since March 1.

Financial terms were not disclosed. All told, Atlantic Broadband, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cogeco Cable, serves some 250,000 video subscribers in the aforementioned areas, as well as South Carolina.

BeIN Sport has rights to such top soccer leagues and tournaments from Europe and South America as Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, South American World Cup Qualifiers and Copa America 2015. The network also presents the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team away match qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, as well as international tennis, golf, volleyball, rugby, handball and motorsports. Having secured those rights from other programmers, including Fox Soccer and Gol TV, beIN SPORT kicked off last August, initially on DirecTV and Dish Network. It later netted pacts with Comcast, Time Warner Cable (and Bright House Networks) and Liberty Cablevision in Puerto Rico.

“Our Miami-area viewership is among the most internationally diverse in the country, and beIN Sport brings together for them the comprehensive coverage of top-flight soccer and international sports we know they will appreciate,” said Jim Waldo, Atlantic Broadband senior vice president and general manager, in a statement. “We are particularly pleased to offer beIN Sport en Español as a new channel in our Mundo Latino Spanish-language service, as well as the beIN Sport English-language digital and HD channels.”

“BeIN Sport offers fans first-row access to the renowned stars and intense rivalries of international competition with matches and leagues that can’t be found anywhere else,” noted Yousef Al Obaidly, managing director of beIN Sport “Our exceptional programming enables fans to ‘be in’ the center of the action of each and every game.”